Recent Reads {Shakespeare Undead}

Shakespeare Undead by Lori Handeland - Believe it or not, my local library has a whole feature shelf of zombie lit right now.  Creepy, right?  But since I liked Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so much, I have glanced over the titles on that shelf a few times.  This was the title that caught my eye, and it turned out to be an entertaining book.  The fantasy premise is that William Shakespeare was a vampire (in case you are not up on your trivia of the undead, vampires are capable of raising zombie armies) and the mysterious Dark Lady in his sonnets was a zombie-hunter with whom he had a love affair.  Now, if the Bard was a vampire many centuries old, that would certainly explain how he had the knowledge background to write all those plays, even though it seemed that he had a relatively modest education and wasn't well-traveled. ;-)  In this story, Will has a run-in with a young zombie hunter - a young woman dressed as a boy - and they join forces to combat the growing number of zombies in London, eventually falling in love.  Will is trying to find out who is raising the zombie army and what their purpose is, yet he cannot let his Dark Lady guess that he is not human.  Shakespeare's inspiration for his plays comes often in the form of ghosts of people he has known in his long un-life, and there are many humorous references to the plot ideas he has and how they may play out.  In the future, under the names of other authors and playwrights, of course.   And the ending is a bit of a cliff-hanger!

Recent Reads {Eco-Chic Home}

Eco-Chic Home by Emily Anderson - I can't even begin to explain why this caught my eye at the library, because while I do attempt to be smart and responsible when it comes to the environment, I am certainly NOT a tree-hugger or anything like that. Basically I recycle, reuse, reduce consumption, and avoid unnecessary chemicals and processing when it's economical and/or relatively convenient. Anyway, these little how-to book is full of little tidbits of environmental information tucked in among a selection of projects that are supposed to be economical and environmentally-conscious ways to add style and function throughout the home. There were a lot of projects that I found intriguing and possibly worth trying; a few projects that I thought were irresistable; and quite a few that I thought were a whole lot of expense and trouble. Even those, however, were clever ideas.  Not a book that rocked my world, but a book that sparked a few ideas.

Recent Reads {Thief}

Thief by Linda Windsor - In the second novel of this trilogy, the attention is on Caden, the second son of Glenarden.  Caden had proved to be a traitor in the first story, which focused on oldest son Ronan, and had been exiled from the kingdom.  Bitter and hopeless, Caden has been making his way as a mercenary soldier until he is injured in a battle.  He is nursed back to health with the help of a gentlewoman who gives him his next mission - the search for her long-lost daughter who was kidnapped years previous.  Sorcha had been adopted by a Saxon family, and was making a living a minstrel and carrying on her father's business, and is suspicious of Caden's offer to take her back to her mother.  No surprise that the two of them are meant to be together, but of course there are roadblocks and trials in the way.  Eventually they are accused of murder and wind up running for their lives.  It took me a little longer to get the characters and locations straight in my mind when I started reading this book, but once I had it settled who belonged to which kingdom, I was drawn in by the story and found it difficult to put down.  Since the third in this series is probably not going to be available till sometime next year, I may see if I can pick up one of Windsor's other titles in the meantime.

By the same author:  Healer

Recent Reads {Mr Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman}

Mr Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman by Maria Hamilton - It can be mind-boggling to consider the sheer number of Pride & Prejudice spin-offs, sequels, and "what-if's" available.  Trying to figure out which ones are worth reading and which ones are trash is quite a task.  This "what-if" by Maria Hamilton is, in my opinion, one of the better ones out there.  Hamilton takes up the story as Mr Darcy leaves Hunford after Elizabeth rejects his first proposal.  The remainder of the novel sets out an alternative course of events in answer to the question, "what if Mr Darcy had acted immediately in an effort to repair the damage he had done to Mr Bingley and Jane's relationship?"  The alternative love story sees Mr Darcy return to Hertfordshire much sooner, and determined to do whatever he could to earn a second chance with Elizabeth and take her criticisms of his character seriously enough to make changes.  Overall, the book is very well-written and in the spirit, if not quite the style of Austen.  It seemed to me that Hamilton's style was a somewhat simplified version of an Austen-style narrative, obviously written for a 21st century audience.  There were sections of dialogue that were a bit stilted - for example, there were a couple of conversations in which I was heartily tired of the lady prefacing almost every sentence with "Sir,..." and I had some minor quibbles with characterization.  Darcy worries and obsesses over his decisions much longer and with more angst than I would expect from him, even considering that he is doing his best to anticipate how Elizabeth may interpret his actions. As Darcy very subtly courts Elizabeth and she realizes that she is falling in love with him, they both recognize the danger that misunderstandings between them pose to their relationship, and they make great efforts to be patient and honest.  This sometimes goes a bit too far and they apologize to each other excessively.  (Spoiler alert, sort of: I didn't like that Darcy and Elizabeth anticipate their wedding vows near the end of the book, but that said, I am glad that it wasn't trashy and graphic.  And even though I didn't like this plot twist, it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the story at all.)  The storyline was delightful and romantic, the writing (and editing!) was well-crafted and classy, and I think this is a wonderful addition to the growing collection of JAFF.

Recent Reads {Jane Fairfax}

Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken - This novel takes the secondary heroine of Austen's Emma, and gives her a backstory. Aiken writes in a style meant to imitate Austen, and succeeds tolerably well. She imagines Jane's childhood and relationship with Emma, and tells us all the background of Jane's upbringing and education with the Campbell family and how she came to meet Frank Churchill. While the novel provides motivation and storyline for Jane and Churchill, and retells many of the events of the original story as they may have been seen from a different viewpoint, it didn't keep my interest and I didn't feel any emotional connection to Jane. The character of Emma is presented very negatively through the majority of the book, which put me off considerably. Certainly the character of Jane, especially as a young child, may have seen Emma's actions and behavior as selfish, petty, and mean-spirited; but as a reader who viewed Emma with a little more charity, this tended to annoy me more than anything. I did enjoy the love story aspect of the relationship between Jane and Churchill, their secret engagement, and their actions and attitudes from Jane's vantage point.

Recent Reads {The Dark Enquiry}

The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn - I have an obsession with Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia novels. There, I've said it. I can't seem to get enough of these fascinating, yet flawed, characters and their adventures. I had this latest installment (fifth in the series) in my hands within a week of its release and now that I've finished it, I will have to wait anxiously for the next one!

Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane have returned home to London and are trying to settle into something of a domestic routine, and strike a balance they are both happy with concerning Julia's involvement in Brisbane's private investigation business. As expected with such passionate and quirky characters (with 'help' from Julia's eccentric family), domesticity and routine are more than a little elusive. Soon Brisbane and Julia are involved in the investigation of a Spirit Club and related murders, and are in great danger themselves. Brisbane trusts Julia with more of his mysterious past as they follow the threads of this case through all its twists and turns.

Loved. It. 8-)

By the same author: Silent in the Grave, Silent in the Sanctuary, Silent on the Moor, and Dark Road to Darjeeling are the previous Lady Julia Grey novels. Also - The Dead Travel Fast.

Recent Reads {Healer}

Healer by Linda Windsor - I found this novel, first in a planned trilogy, by chance, having seen the second of the series on the feature shelf at the library. I hunted up the first so I could read them in order, and enjoyed it very much. the story is set in Arthurian era Scotland, during a time when clans and tribes had to unite against common enemies even while feuding with each other. The action opens with a prologue describing the slaughter of one king and his people by a jealous neighboring king. Only the infant daughter escapes the keep, in the care of her nurse, but she grows up hunted and isolated because of the prophecy her mother spoke as she died. Twenty years later, Brenna finds herself face to face with the son and heir of the warlord king that killed her parents, and both have to decide who they can trust and how the prophecy will affect their futures. A very engagin story that I found hard to put down. Now I'm more than ready to read the second, and then await publication of the third!

Recent Reads {Here Burns My Candle}

Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs - Having finished Higgs' Scottish setting novels featuring Leana and Jamie and their family, I couldn't resist delving into another Higgs novel.  This one parallels the Biblical story of Ruth, setting the action in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the Jacobite rebellion.  Lady Elisabeth Kerr and her mother-in-law Lady Marjory Kerr, are the heroines of the story.  Elisabeth is a Highland commoner who has married into the Kerr's noble family.  The family's loyalties are divided between the Jacobite cause and their traditionally royalist leanings.  Readers familiar with Ruth's story will anticipate many aspects of the story but I certainly didn't find it diminished my enjoyment of it at all.  Keep a tissue box handy!

By the same author:  Thorn in My Heart, Fair is the Rose, Whence Came a Prince, Grace in Thine Eyes

Recent Reads {Emma}

I finished several books over the past week or two, but am behind on blogging about them. Here we go:



Emma by Jane Austen - this is the heroine Austen herself believed that no one would like except herself. As with Fanny in Mansfield Park, I did find that I liked Emma quite well. She is spoiled and complacent, and a bit snobbish, but is generally kind-hearted and gracious, even if she is often hiding her true opinions behind her impeccable manners and consciousness of her place in society. She is beyond patient and generous with her father's eccentricities as well. The entire novel takes place within the confines of Highbury, with only references to other locales. Emma herself has never travelled outside of Highbury, not even to the nearby Box Hill which the characters visit near the end of the novel (with some disastrous results). The subtle humour throughout gives the novel its charm and movement despite its limited action.

By the same author:  Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, The History of England, Mansfield Park